Several hours late, but here is my fill of yesterday’s prompt from @breannasfluff’s Ravioli Ship Week!
Music? Check.
Guests? Check.
Outfits? Check.
Decorations? Check.
Food? Did they have enough food? In traditional Lorulian fashion, the guests were all supposed to bring something for the meal. And they’d all agreed to bring sides and deserts to add to the roasted boar (haha. Thanks Zelda) that Zelda had gotten the castle chef to provide, but what if they didn’t? Or what if it wasn’t enough? What if they ran out of food before everyone had-
“If you keep that up you’re going to end up rubbing your hands raw before we even get started.” Zelda’s voice startled Link out of their mental spiral, causing them to jump and spin around to find her standing in the doorway of the room they had been told to wait in.
“Wha-?” Link blinked at her, drawing a snort of laughter from her (one Link still prided themself in getting to hear even after all this time. Zelda never laughed like that in public).
”Your hands,” she elaborated, gesturing down at them. Confused, Link looked down at their hands only to find that their rings were all askew and the skin around the beginnings of their thumbs and pointer fingers were red.
Oh.
They’d been rubbing them again hadn’t they.
“Sorry.” Embarrassed, they quickly straightened their rings (green holy ring, gold joy ring, roc’s ring) before shaking out their hands.
“It’s fine,” Zelda soothed, making her way over to them and running a light hand over the redness. Soft, bright energy sparked across their skin and when she removed her hands the redness is gone. “What has you so worked up?”
“I just…” Link crossed their arms, hugging themself to stop from rubbing at their hands again. “I want today to be perfect, you know? He deserves for it to be perfect.”
“And it’s going to be perfect,” Zelda reassured them with an understanding smile. “You two have put far too much work into it for it not to be. And even if something does somehow go wrong it will still be perfect. Because it’s you and him. And you’re finally getting married. So stop worrying so much, Little Sibling.”
“I know. I know,” Link sighed, reaching up to rub at their face. “I just—”
“You fret, I know,” Zelda’s smile quirked up in amusement. “It’s what you do. But you don’t have to fret about this. You and Ravio have this all planned out perfectly. And Hilda and I have our part covered.”
“Right.” Link nodded. They knew all this. They just needed to convince their anxiety. “You’re right. It will be fine.”
First of the Rifts in Time Links made by @twilightangel83 for @lozriftsintime. I had a lot of fun making these four for the AU and worked with TwilightAngel when figuring out what roles they would have in regards to Nier: Automata. As I finish more I'll work on getting solo references done so it's easier to see the full outfits as the poses make it hard to show them completely and with the size there are details that I have planned and need to omit so it doesn't get too busy. When I do solo references I'll try and go into details regarding their roles and design choices for any of the Links that I finish.
Ruby, Sapphire, Alex, and Iolite were having an alright day so far. It was barely midday and they had already managed to finish a sword and a number of more mundane objects to sell at the market at the end of the week. Ruby had even completed a fairly complicated special-ordered necklace for one of the local nobles to give to her wife for her birthday. All in all a good day.
But all that work getting done did mean that they had been in the house, working around the forges for several hours straight. So it was probably past time for them to take a break and go outside for a little while. Sapphire would certainly appreciate moving away from the heat for a bit as well.
Gathering up their swords, they touched them together, forming into Link once more before heading out.
It was annoying sometimes, always merging before going out, or only going out one at a time, but they weren’t really comfortable being honest about who they were with any of the locals of this era. Outside of Zelda, of course. The princess of this time had done more for them than they could properly express and they trusted her nearly as much as they had Dot. She took after her who-knows-how-many-greats grandmother, that was for sure.
But as for the rest of the townfolk? Well. Link interacted with them when they needed to, but they were well aware of how the locals thought of them. And honestly had no desire to try and fix the impression that they had made. If people wanted to judge them for how they had acted when they were freshly re-merged and in a new era far from home. Well. That was on them. Link had no time for people like that. They would deal with them in business matters, but nothing else.
Which, unfortunately, meant they keeping up the charade of being one person. Oh well. It wasn’t like they minded being merged. Not really. It was nice, in a way, sharing a body with each other. Ruby often compared it to a nice hug, or cuddle pile. And the others couldn’t really disagree. So there wasn’t any real harm done. They just had to be careful not to talk to each other out loud while in town.
But that wasn’t a problem out here in the forest. Out here they could just be themselves. And if that meant talking to ‘themself’ out loud then that was fine. There was no one around to see.
Or. At least there usually wasn’t. But the two voices they could hear coming from not far away put paid to the idea that they were alone today. Unfamiliar voices at that.
A small frown worked its way onto their face as they adjusted their path to start in the direction of the people talking. There were two voices. No. Three. And all of them were unfamiliar. Link’s curiosity meant there was no way they weren’t going to investigate these voices, but their caution meant they made their way towards the sounds with quiet steps.
Following the voices led Link to where a small clearing broke up the thick array of trees and brush that made up this particular area of the forest. Link was fairly familiar with this area, so it was child’s play to make their way to a thicker part of the underbrush and peer out at the three people standing in the clearing.
/They look like a set of steps,/ Sapphire’s dry humor cut through their thoughts before any of them could do more than start to take in the people in front of them.
/Sapphire!/ Ruby’s tone was clearly trying to be scolding, but the amusement he was feeling made it hard to take it seriously.
/What?/ Sapphire drawled, amused. /I’m right and you know it./ And, to be fair, she really was. There was a fairly distinct height difference between the three figures.
The shortest stood facing away from them and was maybe a foot taller than Link did, so fairly average in height. And they had long, curly, blond hair with what looked like a pink tint to it. Their tunic was a bright red with a green undershirt and their hat was purple with a blue edge. Needless to say Link approved of their color scheme. Even if the blue was far too light a shade. Though Link could do without the multiple gold adornments they were wearing. From wrist bracers to shoulder pauldrons this person was clearly not ashamed of their wealth. Strangely enough, they didn’t appear to be wearing any pants, despite the fact their tunic only went down to just above their knees.
The next tallest, standing over a foot taller than the first, had short, messy, brown hair and bright blue eyes. Unlike the other two, this person was wearing something that was far more obviously built for protection. Grey leather crossed most of their chest and covered their wrists. All of which sat on top of a blue-green tunic and grey long-sleeve undershirt. Unlike the first person, this one was, in fact, wearing pants. And they matched the shade of the tunic exactly. The whole thing seemed very put together, like it was a set. Well. Almost the whole thing. The only thing that stood out as different was a well-worn red, cloth belt that was wrapped around their waists, under their belts.
The other main thing of note about the second individual were the dark markings they could see lining their face. They were unusual, to say the least. They were too straight and distinct to be scars, but they didn’t look like tattoos either. How odd.
The final figure was another good half a foot or so taller than the second, leaving them towering over the first. Their clothes were of a far different style than the other two, made up entirely of a light and loose-fitting jacket and pair of pants. Both of the articles of clothing were black with intricate designs embroidered on them. Flowers mostly, but Link was fairly sure they caught sight of the symbol of Din on the jacket too. The clothes weren’t anything like Link had ever seen Hyrulians wear before. And if you paired that with the bright red hair and golden eyes that this figure was sporting. Well. There was really only one conclusion.
/She’s Gerudo,/ Iolite noted with interest. /I’m surprised one of the desert people is this far from the desert./
/How do you know they’re a she?/ Ruby asked curiously.
/According to the books I found Gerudo only have one male born every hundred years,/ Iolite explained. /And we’ve already met the male from this century./ Link frowned, mind drifting momentarily to Ganondorf before they mentally shook the thought away
/So most likely she, then,/ Alex acknowledged as they watched the three figures talk.
All three people were clearly armed, with two of them wearing a shield and a sword and the Gerudo woman having what looked like a spear strapped to her back along with her shield. They all held themselves like fighters too, for all they didn’t appear to be currently gearing up to fight. These weren’t people Link wanted to tangle with if they didn’t have—wait.
Birthday: (I am currently working on a calendar system for this AU, so this will come later.)
Age When Introduced: 24
Pronouns: He/they
Height: 5'3
Source/Game(s): A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Link's Awakening, A Link Between Worlds, and Triforce Heroes
Sexuality: Polyamorous, Biromantic, and Gynosexual
Favorite Color(s): Mural loves the color green. Not grass green. Or Forest Green. Not even Rupee Green. Their favorite color is Emerald Green. They didn’t have any particular fondness for Green growing up, but these days they do. They couldn’t tell you when the change happened. (Their Zelda can. She can tell you the exact moment Green went from a color Mural didn’t think much about to one they couldn’t get enough of. It was the same time Ravio came back into their life).
Disliked Color(s): Mural doesn’t like the color red. Once, years ago, they gained some fondness for it, but now it’s painful to look at. Even ignoring the trauma of Marin red is the color of blood, infection, swelling, fire, burns, and so on. So many unpleasant and dangerous things are red.
Skills: Mural is very much a jack of all trades. They may not be the best swordfighter in the Chain, but they don't need to be. If they can't get through an enemy's defenses with their sword they have a number of other items they can pull out to use. And they're pretty decent, if not really good, at all of the items they have.
Thanks to their good chunk of experience, as well as their vast array of items, Mural is a quick thinker. And they're very good at thinking of creative ways to use their items to solve an issue or a puzzle. That is, if they haven't seen it before already and therefore already know the answer.
Outfit/Design Notes: Mural's outfit base is the red mail from A Link Between Worlds, but with the purple cap from A Link to the Past's red mail. They generally don't like to wear pants, so they don't. Their tunic goes down far enough and their pegasus boots come up far enough from the bottom. So they're plenty protected.
There are a couple specific items that Mural tends to have out on them at all times. The two main ones are their mirror shield and the Golden Master Sword. Outside of those two things they typically have the Cane of Byrna.
Outside of items that have a practical purpose Mural wears a number of things to remind them that the people they care about aren't ever completely separated from them. The belt, bracers, and collar decoration that they wear line look nearly identical to the ones that their sister, Zelda wears. The dagger on their waist was made for them by their husband, Ravio for their wedding. The pin on their chest looks like the harp of ages and the rod of seasons to remind them of their friends in Labrynna and Holodrum. The bag on their belt has a cucco and an apple for their grandparents and uncle. And the hibiscus necklace they wear is for the dream girl they lost, Marin.
Along with their colorful ensemble of clothes and items Mural's pink-tinted golden hair and honey-brown eyes make them quite hard to miss even in a crowd.
Other: Mural is agender, but does accept the use of he/him pronouns, mostly due to them not caring enough to correct people. They used to think that they were only attracted to women. But they realized that was wrong sometime after Ravio came back from Lorule when it suddenly hit them that they had somehow fallen in love with their best friend/roommate. They don't have any sexual attraction towards their now-husband, but they still love him very much.
Please excuse the fact that the straight flag is on the image for them. I fear that some part of my brain was still defaulting to the societal norms and went 'well they use he/him pronouns so straight works'. No. No it does not. They're gynosexual, not heterosexual. But I don't currently have a way to fix the image. I shall look into a way to do so.
Ask: Bunny Mural, What do you think about your bunny form?
Mural: I’m a hare actually. But eh. shrugs it’s got its uses. More so if I can figure out how to do it on command. I’ll take it over what so many other people turned into in the Dark World.
Diritaln was happy. The strange technology the Sheika had built had proven to be exceedingly helpful in defeating the Calamity. With the help of their Divine Beasts, piloted by Champions from each of Hyrule’s border people; the Zora, the Gorons, the Rito, and his own people, the Gerudo, it had been almost easy. At least compared to previous times he’d read about.
The time since that victory two years ago had been one of peace. And relations between Hyrule and the Gerudo had never been better. Trade was flowing easily and his people were able to freely travel outside of the desert for whatever reason they wanted. There was still work to be done, of course. Politics never fully settled. And that was why he was on his way toward Castle Town to have another meeting with the Queen of Hyrule to discuss a small change to a trade agreement.
He and his four guards were traveling along a commonly-used path in Gerudo Canyon, approaching the crossing for the River of the Dead when things suddenly went very wrong. Alba, the trusty mare that had carried him to and from the Hyrulian capital many times, suddenly reared as they approached the start of the bridge. Caught completely off guard, Diritaln scrambled to try and grab at her reins but didn't manage to get a grip. Instead, the mare's panicked flailing sent him careening off her back as she turned and bolted back towards home.
Diritaln barely heard his guards' panicked shouts as he came to the sudden realization that he wasn't going to be landing on the ground. No. His horse's panicked bucks had sent him flying right over the edge of the nearby cliff, missing the bridge by a good couple of feet...This was going to hurt. Assuming he survived the fall of course.
Looking back up the way he'd come Diritaln caught sight of his guard's terrified faces as they peered down over the ledge at him. But then they were gone. As was the rest of the world around him. Instead of the pain he'd been expecting, Diritaln found himself falling into a strange, foreign feeling....something. What in the...? Where was he? He could no longer see anything that reminded him of any sort of ground or sky. All he could see was a strange, distorted grey that seemed to surround him.
They'd done it. They'd gotten married. It was almost a year ago now, but Link was still having trouble wrapping their head around it all. Just the fact that Ravio had chosen to return to them instead of staying in Lorule had blown Link away and it had taken time for them to readjust to having someone in their life other than Zelda. But then accepting that Ravio not only wanted to stay but loved them? That had taken a whole other struggle. In retrospect it shouldn't have been, Ravio had been showing them affection nearly the entire time the two of them had known each other. Link had just been blind to it. Willfully perhaps? Marin had still been fresh on their mind when they met Ravio after all.
But all of that was in the past. They'd long since accepted Ravio's love and devotion, embraced it even. And returned it in equal measures. To celebrate their marriage Ravio ended up surprising them with a trip to several of the places that Link had traveled to during their adventures. So that Link could see old friends, and Ravio could meet the people he'd heard stories of. They traveled to Holodrum to meet Din, Dimitri, Ricky, and Moosh before heading to Labrynna to meet up with Nayru and Ralph. Then, finally, they went to Hytopia to see Styla. Ravio even managed to get ahold of the two other heroes that Link had befriended during their last time in Hytopia, setting things up for both of them to be there too!
Needless to say, Link had a blast. Traveling around to see old friends while having someone that fully intended to stay healed things they hadn't even been fully aware were hurt. They would have to find some way to show their husband how much all of this meant to them. Link had done their best to tell the merchant how much it meant, but Link had always been better with actions instead of words. They'd have to think of something they could do as a proper thank you. It would be easier now that they were almost home. They'd probably see if they could get Zelda to help as well. She'd helped Ravio set up his part after all. Actually. They needed to do something for their sister too for that fact...
They could work on making dinner instead of having Ravio do it? But they weren’t the best cook, so maybe that wasn’t a good idea…Maybe spend some time this evening pampering Ravio? They knew their husband loved having their wings preened and Link did love getting to preen them. Those wings might be one of the few physical differences between the two of them (outside of coloration), but they often brought the two of them closer together rather than pushing them apart. Oh! Oh they could-Gah! There were too many ideas bouncing around in their head.
But those plans were put on hold as the two of them rounded the final corner that allowed Link's orchard to come into view.
"Shit." Yep. That about summed up how they were feeling right about then. Right in front of them, just off to the left of the path to their house, was what Link could only describe as a rift in the air. It wasn't as neat as the cracks that had led to Lorule, but it was clearly something similar enough. Couldn't whatever this was wait until they at least got all the way home from their Honeymoon? This was rude. That's what it was.
"I'll go back your gear." Ravio's sigh cut through Link's frustrated thoughts and the Hyrlian spun to look at their husband.
"Ravi I'm sorry! I-" Ravio cut them off, quite effectively, by putting a hand over their mouth.
